Friendly competition
by Faberrittanainthetardis
Summary: Team Sparia vs Team Paily. Spencer, Aria, Paige and Emily play 'taboo'.


**Title: Friendly competition.**

**Summary: Team Sparia vs Team Paily. Spencer, Aria, Paige and Emily play 'taboo'. **

**Pairing(s): Paige/Emily, Spencer/Aria (friendship)**

**A/N: I've never actually played this game before so excuse any inaccurracies. Also, this is just a random one shot. Not intended to be taken seriously.**** I need to write some Paily angst/hurt/comfort..**

Paige watched with a furrowed brow as Spencer wrote something on the crisp white sheet of paper in front of her. She leaned towards Emily, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Team Sparia?"

"Team Spencer and Aria," Emily explained with a small smile. "She likes to join their names together sometimes."

"It's called a portmanteau." Spencer finished writing 'Emily/Paige' on the paper and looked up. "It means to combine two or more words into one, for instance 'Brangelina'."

"I see." Paige said though she still looked confused.

Emily gave Paige a reassuring pat on the knee while Spencer shot Aria a smirk that clearly said 'We've got this'. Aria smiled weakly back, silently dreading what was about to happen. Spencer tended to be incredibly competitive to a neurotic extent which was exactly why Aria had tried to opt out of the game. She noticed Emily and Paige making googly eyes at each other and cleared her throat awkwardly. "So what are the rules of this game, again?"

Spencer tensed at the question and slowly turned to Aria. "As I told you the last time you asked, you have to help your partner guess the word or words on the card without saying the word on the card."

"Got it."

"We'll be fine." Spencer said reassuringly, noticing the nervous expression on Aria's face. "We've been best friends since middle school. How hard could beating them really be?"

"We're in the room you know Spence." Emily said with a roll of her eyes.

"Sorry Em." Spencer offered an apologetic shrug. "But it's true. Aria and I have known each other way longer than you and Paige have known each other so we know more _about_ each other and how the other thinks."

"That's not true." Emily argued. "For one thing, Paige and I know each other in a more intimate way than you and Aria know each other."

Paige felt heat creep up her cheeks at the statement. She still wasn't used to socialising with Emily's friends so intimacy being brought up was just embarrassing.

Aria took that as her cue to intervene. "Okay, is everyone ready?" she didn't wait for an answer before she picked up the pile of cards from the top of the pile. "I'll start." With that said she selected a card and turned it over.

"We better win." Spencer muttered as she turned the small hour glass upside down. "Go."

"You're a grade A…"

"Student." Spencer answered quickly.

"Yes! You think Emily is the _what_ in our group of friends?" Aria rushed to get her words out.

"Um…Mediator!"

Aria nodded. "You do the crossword puzzle in it every morning."

"Newspaper!"

"Yes!" Aria exclaimed with a grin. "Hanna calls you a walking…?"

"Encyclopaedia!"

"No but similar."

"Dictionary!" Spencer answered hurriedly only to be met with a shake of the head from Aria. "Text book! Um…thesaurus!"

"Yes!" Aria exclaimed gleefully just as Emily called time.

"Six." Emily decreed, glancing at Paige who looked rather worried by Spencer and Aria's round.

Spencer turned to them with a smug look on her face. "Ready to lose?"

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes again as she took the cards from Aria. Instead of making a retort she turned to Paige and gave her a warm smile. "Ready?"

Paige nodded and returned the smile with a shaky one of her own.

Emily turned the card over at exactly the same time Spencer turned the small hour glass.

"I called you last week to come over to my house because I'm scared of…"

"Thunder." Paige answered quickly, her hands curling into tight fists atop her knees.

"Yeah!" Emily nodded enthusiastically. "You like it when I _what_ you when we're intimate?"

Yet another blush sprang to Paige's cheeks at the suggestive question but her competitiveness spurred her on to answer. "Top me?"

"Another word!"

"Oh…dominate!" Paige exclaimed hurriedly.

"Too much information." Aria muttered under her breath as Emily posed another question.

"Colourful gay pride symbol."

"Rainbow!"

"Yes. You want to go there someday."

"London!"

Spencer frowned at their speed and worriedly glanced at the timer. There was only about ten seconds left but that left plenty of time for Paige and Emily to take the lead.

"Oh…um…You once accused me of stealing yours." Emily exclaimed, stumbling over her words in her haste to get them out. "And I said it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever…"

"Heart!" Paige exclaimed with a grin.

"Time!" Spencer stated loudly, not a second later. She sighed as she reached for her pen to mark Paige and Emily's score down. "You got six."

"That was great babe." Emily beamed and leaned over to press a light kiss to Paige's lips.

"You told her she stole your heart?" Aria teasingly smirked at Paige who shrugged sheepishly.

"Yeah, kind of."

"It's neck and neck so far." Spencer said in a worried tone of voice causing Aria to roll her eyes. "Aria, are you ready?"

"Yes." Aria sighed forlornly.

Spencer promptly turned the hour glass upside down and picked the card from the top of the deck. "Um…Hanna calls me this when I help her to study."

"Einstein?" Aria guessed hesitantly.

"Yes. A board game you beat me at _once_."

"Scrabble!"

"Yeah." Spencer nodded hurriedly and flipped another card. "You get them in the summer. They really annoy you."

"Allergies?" Aria asked warily.

"Yes!" Spencer said before picking another card. "Oh. Um…You and I are a what?"

Aria wavered unsurely for a moment before answering. "Team?"

Spencer nodded hurriedly. "They're given out in mean girls."

"Candy canes!" Aria blurted out, noticing the last few grains of sand falling.

"Yes! The day…"

"Time." Emily announced, somewhat smugly. "You guys got five."

Spencer huffed and leaned back on the floor while Aria wrote the score down.

"I guess it's my turn." Paige said awkwardly, avoiding a less than pleased Spencer's gaze.

Emily nodded and handed the cards over with a small smile.

Paige returned the smile before turning to the cards. She gestured for Aria to set the hour glass and quickly turned over one of the cards. "Erm…Every teardrop is a…?"

"Waterfall!"

"Yeah." Paige nodded before continuing. "We've done it a couple of times in my pool. You had to convince me because I was embarrassed about…"

"Skinny dipping!" Emily exclaimed with a grin.

Spencer raised an eyebrow at that, intrigued by the risqué move.

"Yes. A line a lot of fairy tales start with. We marathoned the first season a couple of weeks ago."

"Once upon a time!" Emily answered quickly.

"You got it." Paige smiled softly. "Oh. Um…A word you would use to describe me?"

"Beautiful?" Emily grinned flirtatiously.

Paige's cheeks reddened. "No. You say that I'm too hard on myself…"

"Insecure?"

"Yes!" Paige exclaimed, slightly surprised that Emily had guessed correctly. She flicked quickly to the next card. "The movie we…"

"Time!" Spencer said loudly, effectively cutting Paige off. "You got five…so it's another draw."

"It doesn't…" Emily started to speak only to be cut off.

"We have to break the tie." Spencer announced determinedly.

"Or we could just call it a day and order pizza?" Aria proposed hopefully.

"No!" Spencer retorted. "Come on Aria, we have to beat them! We're supposed to be the smart ones. They're…swimmers!"

Emily noticed the offended expression on Paige's face and reached over to squeeze her hand. "Don't take it personally. Spence is crazy competitive."

"I'm not _crazy_ competitive." Spencer argued before glancing in Paige's direction. "There's nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition, right Paige?"

"Right." Paige said meekly, giving Emily's hand a squeeze.

"So it's settled…we'll have a tie breaker round." Spencer announced, leaning across to take the cards from Paige before leaning back. She shuffled the remaining cards in her hands and handed them to Aria. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Aria sighed, silently wishing she'd taken Hanna up on her offer of shopping with her mom.

"Go." Emily said, turning the hour glass upside down.

"You need it in the morning." Aria quickly stated. "Preferably in large amounts or you're cranky."

"Coffee!"

"Yes. The kind of movies you watch when you're sick?"

"Disney." Spencer answered quickly.

"Yeah. A type of fruit you hate."

"Bananas!"

"Right! You just applied to…?"

"College!" Spencer exclaimed urgently.

"Um…Hanna's favourite thing to do."

"Shopping." Spencer answered without hesitating.

"Yes. Your mom is a…?"

"Defence attorney!"

"Time." Emily spoke up. "You got six."

"Yes!" Spencer grinned triumphantly and quickly jotted the number down.

Emily smirked at her friends' competitive behaviour and reached over to take the cards from Aria. She glanced at Paige who nodded in response to the unasked question.

"Go." Emily told Aria, flipping the card over. She grinned when she saw the word. "Our favourite thing to do."

"Swimming?" Paige guessed.

"Yeah." Emily nodded and moved to the next card. "You first kissed me in my…?"

"Car!"

"Yes! Um…On our first unofficial date you took me to a bar and we…?"

"Sang karaoke!" Paige exclaimed, a smile tugging at her lips at the memory.

Emily nodded enthusiastically and moved onto the next card. "My favourite physical thing about you, above the neck."

"Um…eyes?" Paige guessed nervously.

"Yeah. We ordered it a couple of nights ago…?"

"Chinese!"

Emily nodded and quickly turned over the next card. "Oh, your favourite flavour of milkshake!"

"Uh…Chocolate!" Paige blurted out.

"What?" Emily frowned just as Spencer called time.

"Five!" Spencer exclaimed gleefully. "We win!"

Paige shrugged sheepishly as Spencer high fived Aria.

"I'm going to order pizza." Spencer beamed, getting up off the floor to stretch. "What do you guys want?"

"Paige and I will share a margaherita with mushrooms." Emily answered without looking away from her girlfriend.

"Got it. Aria…?"

"I'll come with you." Aria offered as she stood up.

"Chocolate?" Emily asked sceptically as Aria and Spencer walked out of the kitchen. "You hate chocolate milkshake. Why didn't you say strawberry?"

Paige shrugged with a small smile. "Spencer seemed like she really wanted to win and since she doesn't like me as it is…"

"What are you talking about?" Emily frowned. "Of course she likes you."

"Really?" Paige asked sceptically.

"She's just a bit defensive around you." Emily conceded. "She wouldn't have invited you if she hated you, would she?"

"I guess not." Paige smiled softly.

Emily leaned close and brushed her lips against Paige's. "Do you want to come back to my place after the pizza?"

"Definitely." Paige murmured against Emily's lips. She lingered a centimetre or so away for a moment before leaning closer to press their lips firmly together.

THE END.


End file.
